Lake Zurich captures another thriller over Mustangs
A hard knock to the jaw dazed the masked Toni Knar, but the Mundelein junior wasn't backing down.
It was the fourth quarter after all and, besides, at least she didn't get hit in her already busted nose.
And with Thursday night's North Suburban Lake Division girls basketball showdown on the line, Lake Zurich's own unflappable junior, Audrey Bauer, showed moxie of her own.
Bauer swished 2 free throws with 0.9 seconds left to give the Bears a dramatic 51-50 win over Mundelein in front of a large crowd at Lake Zurich.
"I was just trying to not think of the situation - just shooting like I was in practice," said Bauer, who had 16 points and 12 rebounds. "Trying not to freak out."
Olivia Allen scored a game-high 20 points as Lake Zurich (17-4, 8-1) moved two games ahead of Mundelein (19-4, 5-3). The Bears can clinch a share of the NSC Lake title and secure a berth in the conference championship game if they can avenge their loss to Libertyville Saturday night.
Much like when Lake Zurich played at Mundelein on Dec. 12, Thursday's game met expectations and maybe surpassed them. Lake Zurich also won the previous matchup by one point - 48-47.
The teams split last season, with Lake Zurich winning 47-46 and Mundelein winning 51-48.
"I love playing Mundelein," said a thrilled but drained Chris Bennett, Lake Zurich's coach. "In our four years in this conference, we've had some great ballgames. They're so well coached. Their kids play so hard. We talked about in pregame that this game is going to come down to loose balls and all those kind of hustle plays that determine a basketball game between two good teams.
"I feel sorry for their kids," Bennett added. "They've outplayed us probably six of eight quarters, and we've ended up with two one-point wins."
Lake Zurich built a pair of 14-point advantages in the second quarter, but its lead was gone with three minutes left in the third quarter.
Knar got hurt early in the fourth and had to leave the court. But she wasn't on the bench for long.
"She's tough," Mustangs coach Brian Evans said. "I knew if she didn't have a concussion, she was going to be back in the game."
Once back in the game, Knar sank a reverse layup and later scored going hard to the basket again. She fed Kelsey O'Connor for a layup in traffic off an inbounds pass with 15 seconds left, putting Mundelein up 50-49.
Lake Zurich eventually inbounded the ball under Mundelein's basket with 2.7 seconds left. Bauer was promptly fouled - a good call, Evans said - and calmly sank her foul shots.
"Aud is crazy," Allen said. "She gets to the basket, does great rebounding. She's a good player for us."
Lydia Bauer added 7 points and 12 rebounds for Lake Zurich, which shot 19 of 21 from foul line.
O'Connor and Knar had 11 and 10 points, respectively, for Mundelein.
"It was a good high school game," Evans said. "We just dug a hole at the beginning of the game."